Identification card manufacturing systems generally include a computer, at least one card manufacturing application running on the computer, and at least one identification card manufacturing device such as an identification card printer or laminator. In the case of an identification card printer, the card manufacturing application can combine textual and graphical information to form a print job corresponding to an image that is to be printed by the identification card printer. The print job can then be processed by the identification card printer by printing an image to a card substrate fed from a card supply using a thermal print mechanism or an ink jet print mechanism. The thermal print mechanism utilizes a thermal print ribbon supply, whereas the ink jet print mechanism utilizes an ink cartridge supply. When the identification card manufacturing device is a laminator, the card producing application can control the operation of the identification card laminator to laminate the printed card using an overlaminate supply. Other identification card processing devices, such as data encoders and card flippers, can also be controlled by the identification card manufacturing application.
Such systems are typically shipped with the components configured in accordance with default factory settings. The settings relate to driver settings for the card manufacturing device, component settings for the card manufacturing device (e.g., printer settings), and other default settings. The user of the system has the ability to modify some of the default settings of the system to tailor the system to his or her needs. Unfortunately, modifications to the default settings can complicate troubleshooting efforts should problems arise. It would, therefore, be desirable to be able to quickly identify how the system has been modified from the default settings to assist support personnel in the troubleshooting process.
In an effort to provide improved security from identification card counterfeiting, some consumable supplies are now customized for the user by providing them with a memory containing supply information that can be used to limit the use of the supply with only the user's identification card manufacturing system. One purpose of such a practice is to prevent the generation of fraudulent cards through the unauthorized use of the supplies with other card manufacturing systems.
The supplies and the card manufacturing systems are preferably customized for the user by a particular dealer. It is preferable for the user to contact the same dealer for submitting orders for new supplies as well as to receive support for the user's card manufacturing system.
There is a continuing need to make the use of identification card manufacturing systems as convenient for the user as possible. For example, it would be desirable to improve the ordering process for the consumable supply through use of the supply information contained in the memory of the supply to direct the user to their particular dealer.